Earlier this month, Marc Anthony, ex-husband of J.Lo and the man responsible for one great song in 1999, announced his engagement to a Miss Universe contestant from Paraguay named Nadia Ferreira. According to Us Weekly, the couple has a 30-year age gap: Anthony is 53, and Ferreira is 23. Here is a picture of the two of them celebrating their impending nuptials on a private jet:
Not much is known about Ferreira outside of her relationship with Anthony, so I guess we just have to trust the intrepid reporters at Us Weekly when they say this woman is 23. Mmhmm. Twenty-three years old. That’s exactly what I would have guessed.
Of course, May-December romances are tradition in Hollywood. Humphrey Bogart was 25 years older than Lauren Bacall, a fact the model Camila Morrone cited while defending her relationship with Leonardo DiCaprio, who is 22 years her senior, in 2019. These things happen.
But there is another possible explanation. My personal theory is that, sometimes, in celebrity relationships with extra-wide age gaps, the woman in question is not quite so much younger than the man as she says. Think about it.
John Legend, 43, and Chrissy Teigen, 36
Teigen told Cosmopolitan in 2014 that she and Legend met on the set of one of his music videos in 2006, and that they “hooked up” that night. If their current ages are correct, that means he was 27 and she was … 20. Possible!
George Clooney, 61, and Amal Clooney, 44
George finally settled down when he married human-rights lawyer Amal in 2014. Amal then gave birth to twins in 2017, when she was reportedly 39 years old. George told The Hollywood Reporter at the time that the couple did not use any fertility treatments to conceive. Also possible.
Alec Baldwin, 64, and Hilaria Baldwin, 38
Does this embattled couple really have a 26-year age gap? Is Hilaria actually Spanish or really a girl named Hillary from Massachusetts? Feel free to draw your own conclusions.
Ryan Reynolds, 45, and Blake Lively, 34
These parents of three have always maintained that Reynolds is 11 years older. That means they started dating when Lively was 23 and Reynolds was 34. Sure, whatever!
Dennis Quaid, 68, and Laura Savoie, 29
Quaid said he met his fourth wife at a “business event” in 2019; they married in 2020. And their age difference is, according to them, 39 years. Okay.
I have no evidence that any of these couples have misled the public about the amount of time they have spent on earth; I just have feelings. In my opinion, there is only one very famous woman with a “much older” husband who can get away with lying about her age, and I won’t name her here, out of respect.
